Archived: Meadowsweet Home Care

The office for Meadowsweet Home Care is located in Knutsford, Cheshire. Meadowsweet Home Care is a domiciliary care service that is registered for the regulated activity of personal care. The service provides care and support to people in their own homes. At the time of inspection there were 22 people using the service.

At the time of the inspection there was a registered manager at Meadowsweet Home Care. A registered manager is a person who has registered with the Care Quality Commission to manage the service. Like registered providers, they are 'registered persons'. Registered persons have legal responsibility for meeting the requirements in the Health and Social Care Act 2008 and associated Regulations about how the service is run.

During this inspection we found three breaches of the Care Quality Commission (Registration) Regulations 2009 and the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014. You can see what action we told the provider to take as the back of the full version of the report.

Risk assessments were in place but were not always robust in identifying what control measures were in place or what action staff should take to minimise potential risks.

Management of medicines was inconsistent and staff did not always follow the provider policy in the recording of medicines. Records of medication administration were not always fully completed and there were inadequate systems to audit these records, to highlight any errors or omissions.

The staff and registered manager had not received training on the Mental Capacity Act 2005 and lacked awareness of this protective legislation.

The service lacked governance systems to assess, monitor and improve the quality of the service. There were shortfalls identified during this inspection that had not been identified by the provider or registered manager.

Staff had been recruited safely to the service and had undergone the correct pre-employment checks before commencing work with the service.

There were sufficient numbers of staff on duty to meet people's needs.

People told us they felt safe when support workers were in their homes and that they were treated with kindness and compassion.

Staff we spoke with were able to tell us about ways in which they protected people's privacy and dignity whilst undertaking personal care tasks. We spoke with people who used the service and their relatives about their experience, they confirmed that care workers were respectful.

The registered provider did not have a whistleblowing policy available to provide staff with guidance if they ever needed to raise concerns about their organisation. The registered provider has not yet introduced the Care Certificate new minimum standards to new and existing staff. The registered provider would benefit from developing a clear overview of complaints received, action taken or outcomes. A business continuity plan had not been developed to ensure an appropriate response would be followed in the event of an emergency. Contemporaneous records were not accurate and completed to provide a clear record of what support has been provided. We have made recommendations about these areas in the report.

One relative that we spoke to said; 'I cannot speak highly enough about their care. Their attention to detail, flexibility and safety is outstanding.'

We were told that all staff had received medications training, we were able to confirm this from training certificates that we were shown.

The registered manager accepted that they had not followed the recruitment process correctly and told us that all staff files would be reviewed and any issues addressed.

The people we spoke with told us that their views were listened to, one person said; 'There was an issue at the beginning, but it was soon resolved to my satisfaction.'

We spoke to staff who confirmed that they were encouraged to take feedback from people and that they knew how to deal with complaints of both a minor and more serious nature.

We spoke with four people who used the service, four relatives, two staff members, the team leader and the manager/provider during the course of our inspection.

We reviewed four care plans, and four staff recruitment records. We saw that the provider had recently received feedback from users of the service and their families in the form of completed quality questionnaires.

People who used the service told us they were 'very happy' with the service provided and said the staff were all 'very kind and helpful.' One person told us: 'I have recommended the service to others, it really is first class.' Another said: 'It is a first class service.'

One relative told us they had: 'Absolutely no concerns' about the care and support their family member received. Relatives told us they were kept informed and received updates about the support and care their family member had received. They also told us they had regular telephone contact with the manager or office staff and had seen their relatives care plans.

As part of this review, we asked people who used the service to comment on the management of their records and about the care and support they received. The people we spoke with told us they had no concerns they wished to raise. We found that improvements were needed in the services medication policies and procedures.